Chevrolet

The slate of six finalists for AOL Autos’ Technology of the Year Award have been named, each embodying the latest and greatest developments in automotive fuel economy, connectivity, telematics and active safety. Readers will now be charged with casting votes that will help determine which entrant takes the top honor.

Following a careful review of over 40 entries submitted by industry professionals, editorial staffers and readers alike, the judging panel has declared the finalists to be (in no particular order):

From midnight on November 19 onward, readers will be given the chance to vote for one of the six innovative technologies to take the top prize. The announcement and presentation of the honor to the victor will occur in Las Vegas at January’s 2014 Consumer Electronics Show.

Though it is certainly true that most readers of AOL Autos will not have had a personal opportunity to test the technologies in the running for the honor, they do have access to reviews written by site staffers, all of which are accompanied by videos explaining the finer points of each innovation. These summaries also include specific articulation of the reasons each finalist was selected by the judging panel. Once the readers’ choice is determined after voting closes, that selection will have the equal weight to the vote of one of the judges on the 14-judge panel.

AOL Autos editor David Kiley believes that the readership will have sufficient information to fairly judge the merits of each new technology offering, thanks to the detail provided in the site’s presentations. Those assessments, combined with the hands-on experience AOL Autos staffers enjoyed with each finalist, make for a thorough, accurate judging process.

In its inaugural technology contest last year, AOL Autos tapped the updated UConnect system from Chrysler as the top technological innovation, surging ahead of laudable submissions from Cadillac, Honda, Nissan and Ford.

The fuel economy category was a new addition to this year’s contest, largely because it is an arena that is seeing a major influx of technological development within the auto industry. Kiley asserted that since fuel economy innovations are so thoroughly intertwined with electronics, the decision to include this sector in an event affiliated with the Consumer Electronics Show is entirely fitting.

Team Penske came up just short in its pursuit of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach pole position Saturday, but if recent history is any indication, the team will be in prime position for a race victory when the green flag flies.

Teammates Will Power and Helio Castroneves both qualified for the Firestone Fast Six, with Power earning a third-place starting position and Castroneves securing a sixth-place starting spot. AJ Allmendinger had the ninth-fastest lap in his group during the first qualifying round and will start 14th on Sunday.

Power, the defending Long Beach race winner, was clocked at 67.3987 around the 11-turn, 1.968-mile circuit in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Dallara/Chevrolet. Power unfortunately was unable to record his planned fast lap as the checkered flag flew before he could start his third lap in the Firestone Fast Six.

“Yeah, it was good, obviously, to get to the Fast Six, and then just how qualifying is at the moment. We got caught out at the end there,” said Power, who managed to win the race from a 12th-place starting position in 2012 despite qualifying second when he and the other Chevrolet drivers took 10-grid spot penalties after changing out engines. “Tim (Cindric) came over the radio and said that you’re barely going to make one more lap. I thought he meant fuel, not time, but it was time. So I got to the start of my last lap, and it was checkered flag. But still, I’m happy with third.”

The current IZOD IndyCar Series championship leader, Castroneves turned a lap of 67.9698 in the No. 3 Auto Club of Southern California Team Penske Dallara/Chevrolet. The three-time Indianapolis 500 winner has now qualified eighth or better in his last four races at Long Beach.
“We made some adjustments to the Auto Club Team Penske Chevrolet between the sessions today and improved quite a lot,” said Castroneves, who won the 2001 Grand Prix of Long Beach from the pole. “It’s a shame because I felt that I had a better car than sixth. I’m not complaining, being top six is great, but I just want to make sure we get everything we can out of the car because it is so competitive here.”

Allmendinger, in his second race driving the No. 2 Penske Automotive Dallara/Chevrolet, had a fast lap of 1:09.2001 in the first qualifying session.

“Tough day for the No. 2 Penske Automotive Chevrolet,” said Allmendinger, who competed at Long Beach three times previously and recorded a top-10 finish in 2005. “We thought we had the car in a pretty good place going into qualifying but unfortunately I wasn’t able to get out of it what I needed. I know that Will won the race last year from 12th so that gives us some hope that we can move up through the field tomorrow and hopefully be competitive.”

Power, who also won the Grand Prix of Long Beach in 2008, will start inside the second row and alongside Takuma Sato and behind polewinner Dario Franchitti.

“It’s definitely a good starting position,” said Power. “I look for a good, solid race again tomorrow in the Verizon car.”

With just 52 days remaining before the return of the Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix, work on the infrastructure and facilities at the 2.1-mile Raceway at Belle Isle Park street circuit has officially begun.

Several dozen workers were on the island today erecting grandstands and moving massive concrete barriers into place with heavy equipment. Bike riders and joggers navigated around the construction areas.

The event, which was last held on Belle Isle in 2008, will run June 1-3 and will feature the stars of the IZOD IndyCar Series, the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series, the Pirelli World Challenge Series and the Firestone Indy Lights Series. The race will be shown on ABC (Channel 7 in Detroit) at 3:30 p.m. June 3.

“It’s quite an experience to watch a vibrant island park like Belle Isle turn into a first-class racing venue before our eyes,” said Bud Denker, event chairman for the race. “The island will be literally changing every day as we prepare for the return of the Grand Prix to the Motor City.”

Back in 2008, British driver Justin Wilson won the race when Team Penske’s Helio Castroneves was penalized for blocking tactics.

The event was cancelled in 2009 because of the chronic state of Detroit’s economy. It has been revived through the joint efforts of the city of Detroit, Birmingham motorsports legend Roger Penske, the IndyCar Series and local auto manufacturers and sponsors.

Midway through Sunday’s Izod IndyCar Series race at Barber Motorsports Park, crew chief Tim Cindric called driver Will Power to the pits. At the time, Power was fifth. He wasn’t low on fuel and his tires weren’t shot, so the call was firmly strategic. Power eventually found himself leading and winning the race, a consequence of Cindric’s clever and timely decision.

These days, “clever” and “timely” are buzz words for Roger Penske’s IndyCar team, which helped orchestrate the reintroduction of Chevrolet to the series with unforeseen success. Wins in the first two races have Team Penske ahead of its rivals while helping Chevy make amends for an uncomfortable series exit six years ago.

The series has ushered in an era of new engines and chassis with two unpredictable, entertaining races. The adage of “What’s good for Penske is good for IndyCar” has been turned sideways: What’s good for IndyCar is strategy, unpredictability and unusually competitive racing. So far, that’s also been good for Team Penske.

“The saying actually should be ‘What’s good for IndyCar is good for Penske,’ ” said Cindric, also team president. “We will only be successful if the series is successful, and so far this change has been good for everyone.”

When Honda, which in previous years had teamed with Penske’s Ilmor Engineering to supply the IndyCar Series with engines, chose to go in-house to develop and build the new turbocharged V-6 engines, Penske approached General Motors executives Tom Stephens and Mark Reuss about teaming with Ilmor to bring Chevy back to IndyCar. racing.

The result was an engine that appeared to be stout, although the Chevy and Ilmor engineers weren’t certain until the first practice before the March 25 opener in St. Petersburg, Fla.

They did fine. Penske’s Helio Castroneves raced from seventh to victory, signaling an early edge to Penske and Chevy. On Sunday in Birmingham, Ala., Power backed that up.

“Until you get on the track and face everyone, you can’t tell where you’re at,” said Jim Campbell, GM’s vice president of performance vehicles and motor sports. “After the first two races, we’re excited about where we’re at.”

Before Castroneves’ win at St. Petersburg, Chevrolet hadn’t won an IndyCar race since Tomas Scheckter of Panther Racing on June 11, 2005. Chevy left the series in after that season.
Beyond the success of the new Chevy are Penske’s other ventures related to IndyCar racing. His Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix, dormant since 2008, will resume this season with Chevrolet as the title sponsor. Last week, Castroneves helped announce plans for a street race in Houston’s Reliant Park in 2013 that will be title-sponsored by Shell, the primary sponsor on Castroneves’ car.
Chevy and Honda have been close in the first two races — Honda-backed Scott Dixon is second in the driver standings after two second-place finishes, and Honda had three of the top five Sunday — but Penske’s Chevys have been just a tick faster.

Power showed that Sunday, doing so in an entertaining race on a track once thought to be adverse to action.

“I think the key to having a good series is having a lot of passing and action,” Power said. “We’re there to put on a show, and that’s what we’ve been doing. We have a new product that’s going well, and we need to keep it going in that direction.”

While the look of the new Dallara chassis bothers some fans, the true test — its performance — is the surprise of the season. The cars sound better and race better, and — thanks to new tire compounds from Firestone that degrade more rapidly — strategy has returned to IndyCar’s road and street races.

“The one thing that was loud and clear at Barber was the architecture of the cars and the work that Firestone has done has developed a much better show,” Cindric said. “Everything makes more sense. There is strategy and passing and unpredictability. … In the best times of IndyCar road and street racing, that’s what we had. Barber showed that you don’t really have to have all different cars and engines. You just have to have the right formula.”

It never hurts, though, to bring fresh players to the game.

For the six seasons while it was the sole engine supplier, Honda lobbied for competition. After the government bailout resuscitated GM, its leaders chose to take a risk and return to a form of racing that itself has been struggling.

“Someone made the commitment that they would invest in the brand,” Penske said. “There’s no question that they’ve not only committed to (IndyCar) from an engine perspective, they’re going to be active in participating in the race in Detroit. The nice thing is from top to bottom within General Motors in North America, motor sports has support.”

Perhaps another adage has been turned sideways: It’s not always true that what’s good for motor sports is good for Detroit. Sometimes it’s the other way around.

Back at the track today, Keselowski again made his way to Victory Lane.
And he again began to think about a Sprint Cup title.

Keselowski, a Rochester Hills native, led a career-best and race-high 232 laps, then held off Daytona 500 winner Matt Kenseth on a late restart to cruise to his first victory of the season.

“What can I say? I love Bristol and Bristol loves me,” said Keselowski, who immediately began taking pictures in Victory Lane to send to Twitter.

“The goal at Penske Racing is to win a Sprint Cup championship, and one win certainly doesn’t achieve that, but it’s a great step.”

The Chase for the Sprint Cup championship has a wild-card provisional for the winningest driver not otherwise eligible. Keselowski’s win at Bristol last August was his third of the season and gave him the provisional that allowed him to race for the title.

Now, just a month into the season, he’s focused on collecting victories.

“One win is good; two wins is really good,” Keselowski said. “We need to keep winning races to lock ourselves in the Chase, but heck, I’d rather just go into the Chase in the top spot. If we run like we have the last few weeks, we’ve got as good a shot as anybody else.”

Keselowski narrowly escaped an early seven-car accident, worked his way toward the front, then settled in for a tight battle with Kenseth over the final third of the race. Kenseth beat Keselowski on one of their restarts — fans complained instantly on Twitter that Kenseth had jumped the start — and Keselowski had to run him back down to reclaim the lead.

But a late caution when Tony Stewart hit the wall put Keselowski’s win in jeopardy.

“I’ve got no clue what to do here,” he radioed crew chief Paul Wolfe, who decided to leave Keselowski on the track and not bring him in to the pits under caution.

Then Keselowski had to decide which lane to choose for the final restart, and his decision to take the outside may have sealed the win.

“I knew as long as I could beat him on the first lap, I knew I had a good enough car and I’m a good enough driver to win,” Keselowski said. “Matt didn’t make it easy. That’s his job, to not make it easy on me. He raced me hard; I raced him hard, rubbed a little bit. That’s good racing.”

Kenseth settled for second in his Roush Fenway Racing Ford.

“He should have started on the bottom, for me; unfortunately he didn’t,” said Kenseth, who also denied jumping the earlier restart.

“I knew it was close, but here is the thing: When you get to the second line, they say that the race is on. I knew we took off a little early. … I am waiting for him. … I didn’t even floor it until we got to the start-finish line. I don’t know if he was trying to let me beat him on purpose or what was going on.”

Keselowski said judging the restarts was “too subjective” and that a no-call by NASCAR “was the right call.”

The three Toyotas from Michael Waltrip Racing capped an impressive day by rounding out the top five — a feat that marked a strong return to racing for Brian Vickers.

Martin Truex Jr. led the MWR contingent with a third-place finish and was followed by Bowyer and Vickers, who ran his first race of the season. Out of work since Red Bull Racing closed at the end of last season, Vickers was tabbed last week to run six of the races that MWR driver Mark Martin sits out this season.

He had a strong debut race, leading a career-high 125 laps. In 14 previous races at Bristol, Vickers had led only one lap, never finished in the top 10 and ended on the lead lap only four times.

“When it’s your only one, you have to make it count,” Vickers said. “This was pretty good and it felt really good when we were out there leading. It would have been awesome to hold onto that, but it’s the first time back so I can’t complain about that. What an organization.”

Truex said the showing, and Vickers’ ability to step into an MWR car and post a top-five finish after a layoff, show the strides the organization has made.

“Obviously it says a lot about the cars,” Truex said. “I think everybody knows that Brian is a good driver. He’s more than capable. I knew we had great race cars.”

Jeff Burton was sixth in a Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing and was followed by Earnhardt Ganassi Racing teammates Jamie McMurray and Juan Pablo Montoya.

Jimmie Johnson finished ninth in what is likely his last race for some time with crew chief Chad Knaus. Hendrick Motorsports goes before NASCAR’s chief appellate officer Tuesday, trying to get Knaus’ six-race suspension overturned.

NASCAR punished Knaus and the team because their Chevrolet failed the opening day inspection at last month’s Daytona 500.

Paul Menard and Kevin Harvick finished 10th and 11th to give RCR three cars in the top 11. Harvick managed to pull off the finish despite damage sustained in a seven-car accident 24 laps into the race.

The accident was caused when Kasey Kahne ran into Regan Smith after passing him, and it continued the horrendous start to the season Kahne is having with Hendrick Motorsports. He finished 37th, and through four races Kahne is 32nd in points.

“This is the worst way I could start a season,” Kahne said. “I hate it for everybody. It’s really disappointing and discouraging to have as fast of race cars as I have and not have nothing to show for.”

Last year, the 30-year-old Allmendinger had 10 top-10 finishes and was 15th in points driving Richard Petty’s No. 43 car.

The move, announced Wednesday, takes Penske back to his open-wheel roots.

Allmendinger won the open-wheel Barber Dodge Pro Series title in 2002, the Toyota Atlantics championship in 2003 and was the 2004 rookie of the year in the now defunct Champ Car series. In 2005, he won five races and was third in Champ Car in points. He joined the Cup circuit in 2007.

Busch won two races, took three poles and was one of 12 drivers to compete in the season-ending chase. Two weeks ago, after six bumpy seasons, Busch and Penske parted ways.

It was February 1965 and the then general manager of a Philadelphia Chevrolet dealership had been offered the opportunity to become the store’s owner. But in order for that to happen, Penske would have to give up what drew him to Chevy in the first place: racing.

His decision back then — to end his race-car driving days and put on his dealer hat — has ended up turning into what has been a decades-long career with Chevrolet, one where Penske has not only become a dealership mogul, but a titan in the racing business, as well.

Penske talked about this decision and more in the latest Faces of GM blog entry.

“I had to go Detroit, and Bunky Knudsen at that point was general manager of Chevrolet. He said, ’Roger, we’re not going to have race drivers as dealers, so you have to make a decision,” Penske explained of his 1965 experience.

“Are you going to be a race driver or a businessman?’ That’s probably the best advice I’ve ever had, because I decided no more racing – let’s become a dealer. That’s when I really started my career with Chevrolet, and I never turned back,” he continued.

Of course, Penske’s passion for Chevy had been ignited eight years before getting the store ownership offer when he bought his first Corvette, a 1957 competition model. Penske began racing and picking up wins.

In 1963, Penske met George McKean, a Philly Chevy dealer, and took him up on his offer to be the store’s general manager.

And then, Penske’s career as a racecar driver hit a crossroads two years later when McKean asked if he wanted to take over as owner.

Penske may have given up driving cars in races, but he didn’t drop the sport entirely.

He built a TransAm race team back in the 1960s, and racing legend Mark Donohue was his driver. By the end of the 1980s, Penske was part of an Indianapolis 500 championship.

GM president Lloyd Reuss had approached Penske about crafting an engine to compete in the famous race, and in 1988, they got their chance with driver Rick Mears steering the way to victory.

“The best moment I had with Chevrolet was winning that first one, the first Indy 500 with the Chevy motor with Rick Mears in 1988,” Penske said.

The Penske-Chevy combo won that day and captured other Indy 500 crowns, all part of 15 races it won during its IndyCar series tenure that eventually came to an end.

But things appear to be getting revved back up for Penske and IndyCar. His company and Chevy teamed up with Ilmor Engineering to build a new engine, which is currently undergoing testing. It will run in next year’s IZOD IndyCar series.

It’s just the latest in what been a decades-long relationship with Chevy that touches both the dealership and racing industries. In fact, he has had ties with Chevy for more than half of the brand’s existence.

“The brand is on the rise. I can see it with the cars that are available for us to sell in the showrooms. It’s never been better,” Penske said.

Looking forward, he added: “I can tell you my goal is to put that Chevy back in the winner’s circle.”

Costco seems to sell anything and everything, from electronics to groceries. While they may not sell automobiles, they do, apparently, offer incentives and savings to their members through their Costco Auto Program.

Just as the holiday shopping season began, Costco unveiled its partnership between their Auto Program and General Motors. Through the Costco Auto Program, members will receive a Chevrolet and GMC Limited-Time Offer, allowing them to get preferred pricing on select vehicles and receive a $500 Costco Cash Card.

Between November 1 and January 3, 2012, Costco members can get preferred pricing on a purchase or lease at participating dealerships for new 2011 and 2012 models. Those models are: the Chevrolet Silverado, Suburban, Tahoe and Traverse and the GMC Acadia, Sierra, Yukon and Yukon XL.

Interested buyers must be Costco members as of October 31, 2011, and need to register to participate at www.costcoauto.com/gm or by calling 877-746-7422. Once registered, buyers will receive an authorization number and PIN that they must provide at participating dealerships. Buyers must also purchase and take delivery of their Chevrolet or GMC truck or SUV before January 3. To receive the $500 Costco Cash Card, the buyer must complete a redemption form and survey.

According to Costco, such an offer is different from any other of the many incentives currently in the market. In addition to preferred pricing and the $500 Cash Card, members can still use any currently incentives or rebates offered nationally.

About Us

Penske Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:PAG) headquartered in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, is an international transportation services company that operates automotive and commercial truck dealerships principally in the United States, Canada and Western Europe, and distributes commercial vehicles, diesel engines, gas engines, power systems and related parts and services principally in Australia and New Zealand. PAG employs more than 26,000 people worldwide and is a member of the Fortune 500, Russell 2000, an was named one of the World's Most Admired Companies by Fortune.